LEAFY/FLORICAULA (LFY/FLO)是植物特有的转录因子家族,在控制花器官的诱导与发育中起着重要的作用,但是与野生大豆花发育相关的LFY/FLO同源基因的研究尚未见报道。本研究从野生大豆中克隆获得1个LFY同源基因,命名为GsLFY,该基因CDS全长1224 bp,包含完整的开放阅读框,编码407个氨基酸。利用实时荧光定量PCR技术对GsLFY在不同组织中的表达情况进行了分析,结果显示GsLFY在根、花以及种子中表达,在茎、叶、茎尖中不表达; 在花发育的四轮不同器官中(萼片、花瓣、心皮和雄蕊)进行实时荧光定量PCR,结果显示GsLFY在花萼和雄蕊中表达,在花瓣和心皮中不表达。酵母单杂交实验结果显示,GsLFY具有转录激活活性。拟南芥原生质体瞬时表达结果表明,GsLFY定位于细胞核中。转GsLFY基因烟草植株开花期比对照提前约29 天,这为通过分子育种的方法获得花期改变的大豆新品种提供了基因资源和理论基础。

LEAFY/FLORICAULA (LFY/FLO) is a family of plant-specific transcription factors, which plays an important role(s) in the regulation of floral organ formation and development. So far, LFY regulation on floral development in wild soybean has not been reported in the literature. In this study, the LFY gene, GsLFY, has been isolated from Glycine soja, and characterized with molecular and transgenic techniques. The cDNA for GsLFY gene is 1224 bp in length and contains an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 407 amino acids. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis shows that GsLFY is prominently expressed in various tissues, including roots, flowers and seeds. Among the four floral organs, GsLFY is expressed highly in sepals and stamens while weakly in the petals and carpels. Yeast two-hybrid experiments show that GsLFY possesses transactivation activity while transient expression analysis with Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts shows that GsLFY protein is localized in the nucleus, supporting the notion that GsLFY is a transcription factor. The GsLFY transgenic tobacco plants flower about 29 days earlier than the wild-type plants, thereby providing a potential rationale for developing new soybean varieties with altered flowering time.